Gas tank explosion causes 60 Freeway in Industry to close

AVOCADO HEIGHTS - An explosion that sent compressed gas cylinders raining onto a neighborhood Monday led to the evacuation of residents and the two-hour closure of the eastbound 60 Freeway.

The explosion occurred about 11:30 a.m. on Cambray Drive, in a small neighborhood near the interchange of the 60 and 605 freeways. No one was injured.

The explosion, which was caused by the failure of a 50-gallon compressed carbon dioxide tank, flattened the bed of the pickup truck carrying it and flung 18 other cylinders into neighboring yards. The cylinders are commonly used to carbonate soda in restaurant soft-drink machines.

"Those cylinders have been kicked around this neighborhood," said Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Tony Imbrenda. "The truck was pretty well demolished."

One home suffered minor damage.

"Apparently a cylinder bounced off one of the homes,"Imbrenda said.

Officials had not determined what caused the explosion by Monday afternoon, and inspectors with the Department of Industrial Relations, workplace safety agency, were investigating.

Early reports indicated that one of the tanks landed on the 60 Freeway, leading to its closure. It was later determined that the tank on the freeway was unrelated to the incident, but the freeway remained closed for nearly two hours in case another explosion occurred.

Residents of 20 homes were evacuated, and residents of another 10 households were ordered to remain indoors while a Los Angles County Fire Department hazardous materials crew and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Bomb Squad searched the neighborhood for other cylinders that could present a danger.

While the search was under way, some of the evacuated residents watched and waited in the parking lot of a nearby warehouse.

Juan Marin, 35, was among them. He lives just around the corner from where the explosion occurred.

"All you hear is the boom. Seconds later you hear the shaking," Marin said.

Thinking at first that a train had derailed, Marin went outside and saw a piece of a gas tank lying in the street.

"You could still hear the hissing of the tanks," Marin said.

Ron Calvaruzo, 40, said another piece of the tank landed in his yard. He said it thudded to the ground about 30 feet from another neighbor, who was outside at the time.

Neighbors said the truck carrying the tank belonged to a resident of the neighborhood. The man, who was wearing a shirt marked West Coast Carbonics, declined to comment. Officials with the Whittier company also declined to comment. The driver was not injured in the explosion, but was taken to a local hospital as a precaution, Imbrenda said.

John Acosta, 49, lives in a home right next to where the truck was parked when the tank blew up. He said he was at work when he got a phone call telling him what had happened. Two tanks landed in his yard, and the tailgate of the exploded truck slid underneath his pickup truck.

Acosta said he heard from other neighbors that the driver got out of his truck seconds before the explosion.

"He's lucky he's alive," Acosta said.

Some residents were allowed to return to their homes by 3:15 p.m., but some portions of the neighborhood remained closed later in the day because two tanks were still being drained of their gas.